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Thursday, June 6, 2013

DROVES - 2013 - Sunshine

Crisp and sunny! That's more like it.Traditionally, Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer in the USA. But this year, it sure didn't feel like the start of summer. We'd had snow and sleet and cold and rain so far. Then Monday morning, the sun poked out and by the end of the day, the warming rays had even melted the snow on the Burke Mountain Ski slopes. It was still quite chilly in the morning, but by the time we packed up the car to go home, we were in shorts - so maybe summer is starting now afterall!A few folks headed home Sunday night, either just not having any confidence in the improving forecast or needing to work (w-o-r-k is nasty 4 letter word). Those of us who stuck around were rewarded with a glorious day. We split into several groups. David and Mo decided to go back out on the Kingdom Trails for more shredding opportunities. Matt and Constance went out for more picture taking, and Ted joined John and me, as we took the tandem out for its first anniversary ride. And in case you are wondering, after a year, we still love 007!

It was a picture perfect day, and as such I'll just let them speak for themselves! This should make up for the outrageously high text to photo ratio of recent days!

When we arrived back at the barn, we found Constance and my Honey (bike) missing! Here she is, caught in the act!

After she returned with the bike, she next stole my other honey (John) and the tandem. "First ride is free" I promised, "but the next one will cost!" I think she may want be willing to pay (for John and the tandem) some day in the future, judging by this smile!

Next up, we proved how big our wee little Fit is by piling on the tandem, and three single bikes, and then filling it with wheels and gear and people! Whenever we load up the car and roof like this, I always picture that scene in the Flintstones where the car tips over. But fortunately it stayed upright.

Another DROVES weekend is in the books. While it didn't quite go according to plan, we left with great stories, and no one got sunburned!

We are experiencing wide fluctuations here. The following weekend had temps in the mid 90s, in Massachusetts at least (Thankfully I was in Kansas - where it was 70 and breezy). Today its 55 and pouring down with rain.

Good eye. Yes, we got the fork in the autumn. I've been meaning to update the post, or do a new one with impressions after a year and what we've changed. The Co-Motion fork works great for these tires and fenders, right out of the box. Just as we had hoped when going with the 650Bs - stock 700C tandem fork is no problem.

Since the initial outing a year ago, we tried different rotars, but went back to the stock Avids. We swapped to narrower drop bars on the rear from the wider bullhorns, to help prevent me from tossing the bike around too much when out of the saddle. And we did finally mount the fenders and lights.